21 January 2011

Well, there it is. Keith Olbermann and Countdown are gone from MSNBC. There's far too much money at stake for this to be a firing as you or I would experience it, but, effectively, that's pretty much what it is. According to the network, "MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended their contract." Conan O'Brien can tell you exactly what that means: the network canned you and is paying through the nose to do so. Though clearly not at a "Tonight Show" level buyout, I'm not going to weep for Olbermann; he's got more than enough fans to land on his feet, elsewhere, and, at this point, more than enough padding in his wallet if his feet aren't what hit the ground first.

That said, it's just remarkable how little it apparently takes to make a left-of-center personality unemployable, while sending stalkers after people you don't like or accusing the President of hating white people is worthy of ongoing, multi-million dollar contracts.

At any rate, here's Olbermann's farewell, which, by his own account, was allowed to be a bit more heartfelt than his exit from ESPN: